I’m in Texas. I live in the DFW area and my mom is in East Texas. We have drive through super centers in DFW- if you can get a ticket (at first it was like grabbing a concert ticket, but I have seen adjustments to providers that make it easier for the over 65 population), you get a vaccine- no paperwork, no questions. I signed my mom up at every place I could find within about 45 minutes of where she lives. It took a while, but she was offered a vaccine from 2 different providers on Friday. She got hers and drove a friend to take her spot on the other. Are there people cutting in the queue? You bet. But Texas is getting people vaccinated.
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Umm, those of us in efficient states, like Texas, are grateful for our competent local government and not exactly eager for another bureaucracy-why do you think FEMA is more capable than your local mayor? IME counties which have utilized sports stadiums (pro, college or high school) for drive thru vaccinations are demonstrably superior than counties which do not. There are easy local fixes to some distribution problems if people bother to try.
There is huge variation in distribution in IL because it was left up to the counties. I’m super fortunate to live in a county with it’s own health department that is overseeing distribution. There are only 4 in the state so we are just lucky.
In my city, all health care workers (on site and community based), first responses, facility residents, those over 65 in the community, and school teachers have been able to get, or at very least, schedule their first shots. Facility based health care workers and first responders are already through their 2nd vaccine. Community based health care gets their second doses this coming week.
That isn’t the case even in the adjacent counties.
I also do think part of it is vaccine reluctance. Despite the state rules, there are some counties that haven’t enforced mask wearing, didn’t enforce restaurant bans, and basically ignored the governor’s orders. In my area, everyone is uber compliant, there has been a massive education campaign, and weekly communication from the major. Our positivity rate is back down to 1% and the city officials and health department want to keep it that way.
That said, there has to be more to it than that and IMO, there shouldn’t be this big of a disparity county to county, let alone state to state.
Our mayor said in his last communication that the problem is not with being able to distribute the vaccine, it’s getting it in the first place. They don’t ever know the number they are getting, or when it’s coming, until it arrives so it’s a mad dash to get the next group up scheduled.
Distribution was super smooth.
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NY has administered over 2 million as well, and I’m not horribly dissatisfied with how it’s gone although I wish it would be faster. But of course what other states (and countries) do has an effect on all of us and our collective ability to end this virus depends on each other. I wish I could say “Well I got mine so who cares” but it matters how it’s going in rural Idaho, South Carolina, and southern CA. If we weren’t dealing with deadly mutations, I’d be more sanguine.
Reinventing the wheel thousands of times isn’t efficient. Having 800 step priority lines based on the strength of local unions is also inefficient. There’s a good chance those delays are going to bite us ALL in the butt.
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Yes, it is a problem, but since there is no consensus on what the priority order should be ( prisoners, smokers, teachers all have different priorities in different states), it is unlikely we could have a more efficient federal plan. We would probably still be debating the priority levels now if we had to have a federal plan. I would like each state to care for its own residents, and then help other states as possible.
FWIW having seen FEMA in action makes me very wary of giving it any role at all. Quite frankly, their level of incompetence is astonishing. I suppose it will be helpful to have the military involved instead, but sad that we acknowledge our failure of civilian leadership to handle the matter.
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California has given about 3 million doses of vaccine according to the following:
It amazed me, given how it “feels” in different states, how narrow the gap really is. There are a few outliers at both ends but the bulk of states are in a narrow range as to how many folks are getting vaccinated. And I would wager that supply rather than distribution is the limiting factor for the vast majority right now.
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It is likely that how it “feels” to a given person depends on
- whether that person has been able to get the vaccine or at least an appointment for it.
- how much difficulty that person had getting the vaccine or appointment for it.
- whether that person feels that the prioritization is fair or unfair.
- whether that person sees others queue-jumping in the prioritization.
Opportunities for people 75+ in Massachusetts have really opened up in the past 24 hours, based on my parents’ experience in Western Mass. Multiple options yesterday to book online themselves, then they got a text this morning from their primary care provider to schedule for next week, AND they also got an outreach call this morning from Mass General Hospital to see if they needed help scheduling. So, they have appointments early next week, and assuming the jabs actually happen, they will immediately cancel the appointments they made yesterday for the following week.
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I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my FIL will be getting his first dose on Wednesday. His doctor reached out to him and set up an appointment for him at the hospital nearby,
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In CT, there are a number of large vaccine sites that either have already opened or are opening soon. If they can sufficiently staff them, and get vaccine, this will help a LOT in terms of the rollout. One huge place is a drive through and I thought I read they could do 1000 a day when fully up to steam.
The National Guard is helping run the Yankee Stadium site and I’m glad to see it.
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Facebook Post from a large hospital in Maine today: “MaineGeneral’s goal is to provide you with the very best service and care. We are very sorry that today, many of our valued community members who tried to get through to the vaccination lines were unable to do so. We received more than 400,000 inbound calls today.
All the slots for the first week of MaineGeneral’s vaccination clinics have been filled. We are not taking registrations again until next week, when we will know if we are getting additional vaccine and how much we will be receiving.”
400,000! That must have been a lot of people dialing over and over again, since there are only 1.3 million people in Maine total!
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Our stadium drive thru is doing 13000 this weekend. They did 1000 last weekend as a trial. If they get enough vaccine, they’ll keep doing them.
So far, it has been the hospitals and the hospital systems that have done the most, and mostly their own employees. Some grocery store pharmacies are doing them, but those have been less organized as there are stories of some turned away incorrectly.
Teachers (k-12) are eligible on Feb 8, but they are hoping each school district will handle the administration for its employees. My sister becomes double eligible on Feb 8 as a teacher and age 65, so we’ll see which system is faster for her, in school or trying to get an appointment at a public place. I bet there will be another drive thru on that following weekend and she’ll get it as a 65 year old faster.
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Big snowstorm in the northeast. Hoping this doesn’t affect vaccine clinics (like mine Tuesday late morning). Keep your fingers crossed for folks with scheduled appointments.
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I am so happy you’re getting the vaccine! But I’m still baffled as to why people like my dad, 83 years old with a serious lung condition, haven’t been able to get appointments. The vaccine distribution seems so uneven.
@injparent I think it’s just that my county is trying to make sure the 1a people are done before they start 1b. I suppose that is the most fair, however, anyone can go to Walgreens, Walmart or Osco Pharmacy and get theirs there if you can get spot on their portals which is what we did. People my age (52) describe it as trying to get a concert ticket like when we were in our 20’s, and people in their 30’s and 40’s who are trying to get for their parents describe it at the Hunger Games lol. Large hospitals here now also have it and are starting to notify their elderly patients and making appointments for them. Hoping it starts to get ramped up. My school sent an email yesterday that sounds like our county is about to open up for 1b for k-12 and I assume people over 65. Let’s hope!
The snowstorm in NJ hampering the arrival and delivery of vaccine to the mega sites for Monday.
All those scheduled people facing a mess, probably rescheduling needed.
“Callahan, speaking at Murphy’s daily 1 p.m. briefing, also said efforts will be made to clear routes to the mega-sites — “up to and including if we need to escort FedEX and UPS deliveries of the vaccines, whether they’re coming in from Newark or Philly airport, that we get them there,” he added. ed within a system already challenging. “
Northeastern University has begun vaccinating students. I assume they are following state guidelines, but a bit of a public relations problem to be giving shots to teens when the elderly cant get them.
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I don’t disagree that it’s a potential PR problem, but do support getting anyone in congregant living situations and/or going to classroom settings vaccinated (not sure any NEU classes are in person)